Why Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘billion-dollar’ AI Superintelligence Lab team may be facing high-profile exits - The Times of India

Meta’s Superintelligence Lab, which company CEO Mark Zuckerberg established after spending billions, has witnessed a series of high-profile departures. According to a report, these exits are due to multiple reasons, essentially raising questions about the company's ability to retain top-tier AI talent.A report by the Financial Times said that the ‘problem’ in the company was highlighted by an incident involving Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Zhao threatened to quit and return to his former employer just days after joining Meta.

2 reasons why Meta AI’s team is facing exits

The report suggests that a handful of new AI staff have already decided to leave after brief tenures. Citing people familiar with the matter, it says that some new recruits feel frustrated by the company's bureaucracy and internal competition for resources, such as access to computing power, which they were promised. Meta, however, maintains that its new AI lab has “the greatest compute-per-researcher in the industry".

Another key point of friction has been the leadership style of Alexandr Wang, Scale AI co-founder and former CEO, who Zuckerberg hired after a $14.3 billion deal earlier this year. The report says that Wang lacks experience in managing teams within a sprawling tech giant. He and other former Scale employees have struggled to adapt to Meta’s unique way of working, such as not having direct revenue goals as they did at their startup, the report added.

Why this can be a ‘problem’ for Mark Zuckerberg

The incident points to a turbulent period for Zuckerberg, who is attempting one of the most dramatic reorganisations in Meta’s 20-year history. In the race to dominate AI, Zuckerberg is shifting away from his reliance on long-time lieutenants and betting on a new generation of recently hired executives, the report points out.These newcomers, including Zhao, Wang, and former GitHub chief Nat Friedman, are reportedly clashing with Meta’s established culture and bureaucracy as they try to assert their influence.The reorganisation has also led to a significant shake-up of Meta's senior leadership. Yann LeCun, Meta’s veteran Chief AI Scientist, remains in his role but now reports to Wang, signifying a shift in the AI hierarchy. Similarly, Ahmad Al-Dahle, who previously led Meta’s Llama and generative AI efforts, has not been named to a leadership position on any of the new teams.This reorganization has also cut Chris Cox, the Chief Product Officer, out of direct oversight of generative AI, an area that was previously under his purview.